No, I Refuse

London's sky was as gloomy as ever.

Woods Orphanage.

Single Room 201.

"Thud!"

The heavy wardrobe floated gently down from midair and landed on the floor.

The 358th control experiment was complete. It had thoroughly proven one thing: the stronger my will and the more focused my mind, the greater and more precise the force I could control became... Perhaps this power was something driven by the mind?

Li Weide looked at the small notebook filled with Chinese characters in his hand, then used a broken pencil to add another sentence at the end.

Despite repeated experiments, I still cannot determine the source or scientific principles of this power, nor can I tell whether anyone else possesses this ability.

Li Weide closed the notebook and slipped it, along with the half-pencil, into his pocket.

"All right, the control experiments can only go this far for now. Next, the second phase: repair experiments..." As Li Weide spoke, he pulled over a chair covered in cracks from beside the bed.

Li Weide raised a hand and lightly patted the chair. It immediately split into fragments and scattered across the floor, as though its previous state had merely been crudely glued together with shoddy adhesive and had never been stable at all.

He looked at the pieces on the floor, then solemnly extended his right hand and focused his mind once more...

"Repair!"

The moment he spoke, the fragments on the floor slowly began to move. Like a video playing in reverse, they gradually came together and turned back into a chair. The cracks remained, but at a glance, there seemed to be fewer of them than before.

Li Weide took out a piece of string and measured the longest crack. A pleased smile appeared on his face.

He had discovered that this crack was shorter than it had been after the last repair! Li Weide took out his notebook again and began recording.

...Sure enough, this power can absolutely be used to repair objects. It has not fully repaired them yet only because I have not completely mastered this power! As my control over it steadily improves, the repair results are getting better and better!

After his delight faded, Li Weide looked at his palm. His childish face bore a melancholy far beyond his years. This power was wondrous and held limitless potential for development, but... if he had a choice, he would still rather remain in his original era.

Yes, Li Weide was a transmigrator. A week ago, he had been conducting an experiment in his laboratory and had reached its most critical stage when his vision suddenly went black. Then he arrived here, his body's age mysteriously reverting to around eleven. More importantly, he discovered that he seemed to have gained a supernatural ability that could easily affect other things!

It was only after he had been sent to the Orphanage as an orphan that he fully accepted this absurd reality and immediately investigated the basic circumstances of this world.

This was actually the United Kingdom in the 1930s! More precisely, he was currently in London, United Kingdom, in 1938.

1938 was hardly a good year, because a failed art student would soon start a world war, and London would be bombed into ruins during it.

With the crisis approaching, Li Weide felt that the strange power he had gained might become something he could rely on. Besides, he had long been intensely curious about this miraculous and peculiar power.

So Li Weide quickly began training and experimenting with his ability. So far, things had progressed quite smoothly.

Before he knew it, Li Weide, immersed in his work, had silently spent his first week in this era.

After resting for a while, Li Weide dismantled the chair again and prepared to continue with the second experiment according to plan. With war drawing near, he did not have much time left.

"Bang!"

Suddenly, the tightly shut door was kicked open with brute force. The wooden door slammed hard against the wall with a thunderous crash.

Li Weide frowned slightly and looked up. A boy about the same age as him stood outside the door.

The boy had black hair and could be called quite handsome. He seemed like someone who could easily win others' favor... if not for his overly pale skin and his gloomy, sinister eyes.

"So you're the new Easterner." The boy sized Li Weide up. His voice could be called gentle, yet it carried an inexplicable arrogance. "You don't seem all that special... So how did you get that old woman to save the best single room for you? Was it that pretty face of yours?"

Li Weide looked calmly at the boy. "Your way of knocking is certainly unique..."

Because of his former profession, Li Weide had always been good at English, so communication was naturally not a problem.

"You seem a little unconvinced? A week ago, there was another idiot who was rather unconvinced too." A cruel smile appeared on the boy's face. "That very night, I hanged his pet rabbit from the ceiling beam."

"Oh?" Li Weide noticed the boy's somewhat sickly smile. "So doing that makes you happy?"

"Happy? No. I did it only because I wanted them to fear me." The boy slowly walked in from outside. "Only when people fear you will they submit to you and obey your commands. And I have never liked anyone defying my will."

"I see... Then may I ask what the gentleman before me, who wishes for others to fear him, wants me to do?" Li Weide looked at the boy with interest.

At first, he had only thought this boy might have some psychological issues and enjoyed abusing small animals. Such children were not uncommon in an Orphanage. But now, it seemed reality was not quite so simple.

Seeing that Li Weide appeared willing to give in, the boy could not help showing a smug smile.

"I've asked Mrs. Cole many times to let me move into this room... but she has always kept me on the dark, damp first floor..." As he spoke, the boy stared fixedly into Li Weide's eyes.

Li Weide nodded. "I see. You intend to trade rooms with me."

"You're much smarter than those idiots." The boy was quite pleased that Li Weide had understood his meaning so quickly. "In fact, if that old woman Cole hadn't locked me in the dark room for an entire week because of a rabbit, I would have come looking for you long ago."

Li Weide nodded again. "I completely understand. No one wants to stay in a dark, damp place forever..."

"So, you agree?"

"No, I refuse."

So... is anyone reading? I'm really nervous.